Information organization and navigation by user-generated associative overlays

ABSTRACT

Digital information objects in a digital information space are linked through the use of an overlay. A dynamic association between an accessed digital information object and each concept node in the overlay is established if the accessed digital information object and the overlay include at least one common concept. Links to other digital information objects are displayed if those objects are represented by information nodes within the overlay linked to a concept node expressing a common concept. At least a portion of the overlay may be exported for incorporation into other overlays or for various information processing functions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/687,232, filed Mar. 16, 2007 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,930,324), which isa division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/649,525 filed Aug. 27, 2003(now U.S. Pat. No. 7,209,928), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S.application Ser. No. 09/124,540 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,430), filedJul. 29, 1998, the entire disclosure of each of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to organization and navigation of digitalinformation objects of a digital information space.

2. Background Art

In a data space containing hypertext such as, for example, the WorldWide Web (WWW), authors link to one another's documents or pages. A usernavigates through the digital information space by either followingthese author-defined links, searching for specific terms (as supportedby search engines), or through their own “bookmarks” or pointers tospecific pages.

Currently, upon locating a document the user may create a bookmark forthe document. The user may then edit a description of the document(presumably, why the document is interesting) in the properties of thebookmark.

Several disadvantages are associated with the use of bookmarks fordocuments. For instance, the user may completely forget the existence ofa relevant bookmark. Also, a user may bookmark the same document twicebecause the user forgot the first visit to the document. Further, somebookmarks properly belong in several categories, but to do this, theuser must add the bookmarks separately to each category. If the bookmarkis changed later, the user has to update each bookmark separately.Frequently, when reviewing the bookmarks, a user is at a loss as to whya particular document was marked. The collection of bookmarks canrapidly grow to an unmanageable number rendering the bookmarks useless.Bookmarks are also difficult to share among users. Bookmarks fail tooffer much interrelated organization amongst them. Finally, allbookmarks must be added manually. Classes of bookmarks do notself-populate and do not offer a superior method of sharing informationamongst peers.

In general, the user sees the digital information space as a looselyconnected network in which authors link to their own documents, or thedocuments of other authors. What is needed is a user-driven model oforganization and navigation that more closely maps to the operation ofhuman long-term memory and is easily shared between peers usingdifferent computers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anavigational model, referred to herein as an “overlay,” for linkingtogether information objects on an existing information space.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an overlayseparate from the existing information space which allows a user tocreate a structure of information nodes, concept nodes, and linksbetween nodes.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for linkingtogether digital information objects from a user's perspective.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide forassociating digital information objects using concept nodes to enrichnavigation through a digital information space.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide anoverlay part or all of which can be shared with other users, or combinedwith other overlays to create richer networks of associations.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to permit a user todefine concepts with one or more keywords or keyword phrases. Unlessotherwise indicated, the terms keyword and keyword phrase are usedinterchangeably to mean descriptive text entered by a user.

In carrying out the above objects and other objects, the presentinvention provides a system for linking together digital informationobjects of a digital information space. The system includes an overlaycreated by a user and maintained separate from the digital informationobjects. The overlay includes at least one concept node and at least oneinformation node. Each concept node expresses a concept described by atleast one keyword, including combinations of keywords. Each informationnode represents one of the digital information objects and is linkableto each concept node. A user interface accepts at least one keyword fromthe user describing the concept of any concept node and also acceptsinput from the user indicating a digital information object in thedigital information space to be accessed. The contents of the accesseddigital information object are displayed. At least one user-selectablelink associated with each keyword common to both the displayed contentsof the accessed digital information object and to any concept describedby the keyword is displayed. Each user-selectable link provides accessto another digital information object in the digital information space.The other digital information object to which access is provided may berepresented by an information node in the overlay linked in the overlayto at least one concept node including the common keyword.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the digital informationspace can include an Internet, an intranet, a desktop environment, anelectronic mail environment, and the like. For example, the overlay canexist on a user computer linked to an Internet and the digitalinformation space includes the Internet.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the at least one conceptnode is a plurality of concept nodes and the at least one informationnode is a plurality of information nodes. The user interface can acceptuser input establishing a link between a first concept node and a secondconcept node, between a selected concept node and a selected informationnode, and/or between a first information node and a second informationnode.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the user interfacepermits the user to add a new information node to the overlayrepresenting the accessed digital information object. The user mayannotate the accessed digital information object by storing anannotation in the information node representing the accessed digitalinformation object.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the overlay existson at least one server and overlay revisions are received by at leastone client served by the server. Overlay revisions may be published bythe server to a plurality of clients. The published revisions may beautomatically accepted if received from a trusted client. The publishedrevisions may be queued for review if received from an untrusted client.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the server receivesinformation node usage statistics from clients and prioritizes theinformation nodes in the overlay based on the usage statistics. Usagestatistics may also be used to conditionally remove nodes from theoverlay.

In yet a further embodiment of the present invention, the overlay existson a computer of a first client. Updates to the overlay made by thefirst client are received by one or more second clients.

In still a further embodiment of the present invention, the overlay issent to at least one search engine. The overlay receives search resultsincluding at least one information node for adding to the overlay.

In yet a still further embodiment of the present invention, the overlayis associated with at least one news service. The user interfacedisplays news articles provided by the news service based on at leastone concept in the overlay.

A method of user controlled, dynamic linking of digital informationobjects in a digital information space is also provided. An overlay iscreated distinct from any digital information object in the digitalinformation space. Input from a user establishing at least one conceptnode in the overlay is accepted. Each concept node includes at least onekeyword phrase establishing a concept. User input establishing at leastone information node in the overlay is accepted. Each information noderepresents a digital information object in the digital informationspace. Each information node is associated with any concept nodeincluding a concept common to both the information node and the conceptnode. The contents of a selected digital information object are scannedfor any keyword phrase included in each concept node. A user-selectablelink is displayed for each keyword phrase found in the scanned contents.Each user-selectable link provides access to at least one relateddigital information object. The information node representing therelated digital information object is associated with at least oneconcept node including at least one keyword phrase found in the scannedcontents.

A method of sharing information linking together digital informationobjects is also provided. An overlay including at least one concept nodeis created. A digital information object accessed and a link establishedbetween the digital information object and each concept node expressingat least one concept commonly expressed by the digital informationobject and the concept node. At least one concept node is exported fromthe overlay for use in at least one other overlay.

A system for linking together digital information objects of a digitalinformation space is also provided. The system includes at least oneoverlay maintained outside of the digital information space. At least aportion of the overlay is passed to an agent for information processing.A link between an accessed digital information object and each conceptnode in the overlay is established by the user if the accessed digitalinformation object and the overlay include at least one common concept.

The above features, and other features and advantages of the presentinvention are readily apparent from the following detailed descriptionsthereof when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram representing operation of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a window for creating and browsing an overlay;

FIG. 3 illustrates a dialog for adding or modifying concept nodes andassociated keywords;

FIG. 4 illustrates a dialog for adding or modifying information nodes;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary display of information nodes, conceptnodes, and links between nodes;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a system including an overlayaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a client/server implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a peer-to-peer networkingimplementation according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary user interface showing presentation ofoverlay information when browsing the digital information space.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

Referring now to FIG. 1, flow diagram 10 representing operation of thepresent invention is shown. The present invention is preferably for useby a user traveling through a digital information space such as theWorld Wide Web (WWW). However, the present invention allows the user toorganize and navigate any digital information space made up ofaddressable objects.

The user creates an overlay as shown by block 12. An overlay is a meansof organizing digital information from the perspective of the user. Anoverlay provides a user with the means for associating digitalinformation, such as a desired document, with concepts, keywords, otherdocuments located on the WWW, and annotations. The overlay itself is,preferably, a locally stored software artifact such as a file or a setof tables in database 14. The overlay does not affect the digitalinformation space directly, nor does it replicate the digitalinformation.

There are a variety of ways in which the information of an overlay maybe represented. However, the content of an overlay preferably includesan index of URLs in the overlay; an index of overlay concepts, eachconcept described by keywords associated with the concept; and data oneach URL containing the concepts associated with an accessed document,annotations associated with the document, and user defined documentlinks for the document. In each overlay, data associated with each URLis grouped into an information node and data associated with eachconcept is grouped into a concept node. Related nodes are interconnectedby links. This graphical view of an overlay is further described withregards to FIG. 5 below.

A user selects a URL in block 16. An addressable object, such as a pageon the WWW specified by the URL, is accessed by the user. This mayoccur, for example, as the user moves through the WWW with the aid of astandard browser.

A check is made to see if the URL selected is in the current overlay inblock 18. If not, the content stream is scanned as described withregards to block 22 below. If the selected URL is in the currentoverlay, page links and annotation windows are populated prior toscanning the contents stream. The current overlay and other overlayswhich have been generated in the past are stored in overlay databasetables 14. The user may choose which overlay from overlay databasetables 14 to designate as the current overlay.

Page link and annotation windows are populated in block 20. If the URLis associated with the current overlay, the overlay display isautomatically populated with the links to other relevant documents andannotations already associated with the URL. An example of a dialogwindow that may be used to implement the overlay display is shown withregards to FIG. 2 below.

The content stream of the accessed document is scanned for keywords and,if keywords are found, links are inserted in block 22. Text stringswithin the content stream of an addressable object such as, for example,a web document, are searched for instances of keywords describingconcepts associated with the current overlay. For each keyword found, anassociation is made to any other addressable object listed in thecurrent overlay associated with a concept described by the foundkeyword.

Once scanned, the document is displayed for the user to view as shown byblock 24. The user is permitted to add the URL to the current overlay inblock 26. When the user adds a digital information object to theoverlay, an information node representing the digital information objectis created in the overlay. If the URL is not added into the currentoverlay then the operation of the present invention is terminated asshown by block 28. If the URL is associated to the current overlay, theuser may input concepts, keywords, links to other documents relevant tothe desired document, and annotations associated with the desireddocument as shown by block 30.

Typically, when an overlay is created, the user associates keywords witheach concept. For instance, the concept “dog” may have the associatedkeywords “poodle” and “dalmatian.” The user may link concepts to thedesired document. For example, the desired document may be the “AmericanKennel Club” WWW homepage which may be linked to the concept “dog.” Theuser may also generate links to other documents relevant to the desireddocument. For example, the “American Kennel Club” WWW homepage may belinked in the overlay with other canine related WWW pages. Finally, theuser may input annotations containing thoughts, ideas, etc., on why thedesired document is interesting. For instance, the user may input “thishomepage includes a directory of the American Kennel Club members.”

When a document is displayed, the keywords contained in the document arehighlighted to define overlay links. Various methods for highlightingare available including using a different color, changing from normal tobold, changing from normal to italics, changing the font, changing thepoint size, putting an outline around the keyword, etc. The manner inwhich an overlay-defined link is indicated should be under the controlof the user.

If the user selects a highlighted keyword in the accessed document, apop-up menu appears. The pop-up menu includes the titles of all thedocuments that have been linked to the concept described by thehighlighted keyword. The pop-up menu may also list information nodesrelated to one or more activated concepts.

Thus, rather than having to make the association manually and thenlocate the documents related to the desired document, the associationbetween the documents has been made automatically and dynamically. Theassociation occurs because the accessed document expresses one or moreconcepts in common with the linked documents. The association isexpressed in the overlay by identifying the concept nodes expressingeach concept found in the accessed document and then finding theinformation nodes linked to the identified concept nodes. Theinformation nodes so found are associated to the accessed documentthrough common concepts.

Referring now to FIG. 2 with continual reference to FIG. 1, an overlaynavigator window 40 for creating and browsing an overlay is shown.Window 40 is preferably part of the browser used by a user to travelthrough the digital information space. The user invokes a command tobring up window 40 to create an overlay. This procedure is related tothe procedure described above with regard to block 12 of FIG. 1.

Window 40 includes a menu bar 42 and an overlay name input box 44. Aspart of information node creation, the user enters a name for theoverlay in overlay name input box 44. Window 40 further includes aconcepts/keywords area 50 having a concepts area 52, a keywords area 54,an edit concept/keyword set button 58, and a clear button 60.

After entering a name in the overlay name input box 44, the useractivates the edit concept/keyword set button 58 to bring up a dialog 70shown in FIG. 3. The user uses the dialog 70 for associating conceptsand keywords with the overlay. Dialog 70 includes an active conceptsarea 72, a defined concepts area 74, an add button 76, a history button78, and a remove button 80. Dialog 70 further includes a concept libraryradio button 82, a personal library radio button 84, and an activeconcept input area 86. Finally, dialog 70 includes a keywords area 88, arelated concepts area 89, and a button 90.

Initially, the user may activate the concept library radio button 82 tobring up a list of predefined concepts in the defined concepts area 74.Each of the predefined concepts in defined concepts area 74 includesassociated keywords listed in the keywords area 88. The user may clickon a concept listed in the defined concepts area 74 and then click theadd button 76 to list the chosen concept in active concepts area 72. Theuser may add other concepts listed in the defined concepts area 74 tothe active concepts area 72. Similarly, the user may remove conceptslisted in the active concepts area 74 by clicking on a concept and thenclicking the remove button 80.

In addition to choosing from predefined concepts to associate with thedesired document, the user may add personally defined concepts to theactive concepts area 72. To do this, the user initially clicks on thepersonal library radio button 84, then types a concept within the activeconcept input area 86, then types keywords to be associated with theconcept within the keywords area 88, and then clicks the add button 76.As an example, the user may define the concept “Scottish fold” with thekeywords “Scottish fold” and “folded ear.”

Preferably, Boolean logic modifiers can be employed when associatingkeywords with concepts. For instance, the user may define the concept“poodle” with the keyword “poodle”, but not the keyword “poodle skirt”by typing “NOT ‘poodle skirt’” within the keywords area 86.

After entering concepts and associated keywords for the desired documentinto the various input boxes of dialog 70, the user clicks the OK button90 to move back to the window 40.

Window 40 may also be used to create new information and concept nodes.This function may be associated with the block 30 in FIG. 1 above. Tosupport this functionality, the window 40 includes a title input box 46,a URL input box 48, an autopopulate button 56, a concepts link area 62,an annotation area 64, and a direct links area 66.

If window 40 is open when the user accesses a document, the title of theaccessed document is automatically entered into the title input box 46and the URL of the document is automatically entered into the URL inputbox 48. The user may now add concept links to the concept links area 62,annotations to annotations area 64, and direct links to the direct linksarea 66 for the desired document. A concept link is a link between twoconcept nodes within an overlay. A direct link is a user defined linkfrom one document to another document.

Instead of manually associating concepts and keywords with the accesseddocument by clicking the edit/concept keyword set button 58, the usermay click the autopopulate button 56 to do this automatically. Anadvantage of the present invention is that the browser examines thetextual content of the document when the user clicks the autopopulatebutton 56 to look for keywords or keyword synonyms stored in the overlaythat are also in the document. The present invention uses keywords toidentify concepts present in the text and suggests associating thedocument with those concepts. The user may agree to this and then decideto edit the concepts and keywords further by clicking the editconcept/keyword set button 58. The user may also edit the concept links,the annotations, and the direct links as desired. In an embodiment ofthe present invention, a thesaurus is included. The document searchcould then include common synonyms for keywords. This feature may beunder user control since the synonyms may generate false positivematches that are less likely to correspond to what the user isconsidering.

An important advantage of the present invention is that the browserhighlights found keywords in the document to defined overlay links. Whenthe user moves a pointer over a found keyword, a pop-up menu appearsshowing all documents that have been linked to the concept associatedwith the matched keyword together with other information such asinformation nodes related to common concepts. In essence, theassociation between documents has been done automatically anddynamically rather than manually. Thus, instead of the user attemptingto remember a relevant document that has been bookmarked and then wadethrough the bookmark folder hierarchy, the presence of keywords hasalready activated the relevant concepts and generated a menu of links.This process is illustrated in FIG. 9.

In a preferred embodiment, the concepts area 52 of dialog 40 shows astrength of association of concepts with the document. The strength ofassociation may be shown by sorting the concepts or by placing a numericvalue next to the concept. The user should be able to select the methodof indicating strength of association.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the overlay can beshared with others. For instance, assets of the overlay are downloadablein the same manner as any other file and may be made globally availableon the WWW. Further, overlays are additive; they may be combinedautomatically or selectively. Implementations of such a distributedoverlay approach are described with regard to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8.

Overlays may have a defined starting point. This provides the user witha trailhead from which exploration may begin. A user creating an overlaywith the intent to share may place trail markers on individual links(this would presumably be done via the overlay dialog for a specificdocument). By invoking a “next” command, an individual viewing anotheruser's overlay can be taken on a guided tour of the associative trail.

To get to the starting point of an overlay, the user would click a homebutton 102 of dialog 40. The user can flip backward and forward throughthe links by clicking arrow buttons 104. A display 106 shows a sequencenumber as the user moves through the links.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a dialog for adding a node to an overlay isillustrated. Window 40 is designed to be the user interface for a standalone application. In an embodiment, some or all of the presentinvention may be incorporated into a standard browser. A dialog, such asdialog 110, may be popped up from within the browser to provide accessto choose the options described above. Dialog 110 permits the creationand editing of an information or concept node from within the browser.

The overlay makes the entire digital information space significantlymore usable for individuals and work groups, yet without requiringchanges to that information space. Information providers could createenhanced documents that come predefined with associative keywords orgeneral links built in; users would selectively decide which keywords orlinks to import into their own overlay, or could reject all authorsuggestions and form links in some other, unique manner.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an illustration of an exemplary displayincluding information nodes, concept nodes, and associated links isshown. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a user canobtain a graphical image of relationships held within the overlay.Information nodes, one of which is shown by 120 and concept nodes, oneof which is shown by 122, are connected by links. Information-conceptlinks, one of which is indicated by 124, indicate the information nodes120 which contain keywords defining the associated concept 122.Information-concept links may be manually established by the user or maybe automatically generated. Concept-concept links, one of which is shownby 126, connect the concept nodes 122. These connections are manuallydefined by the user. Information-information links, one of which isindicated by 128, indicate links from one information node to anotherthat have been manually established by the user.

In an embodiment of the present invention, an overlay is submitted to asearch engine modified to accept overlays. The search engine uses theconcept nodes and their keywords to assemble finely detailed andoptimized search patterns. Information nodes already stored in theoverlay could be used to further refine the search. A user would examinethe search results and decide on a case-by-case basis which newinformation nodes should be added to the overlay. This may be used, forexample, as a proactive alternative to or augmentation of individualsearches performed at the time of need. As such, the overlay could beuploaded to a search engine on a regular basis.

In another embodiment of the present invention, an overlay is used inconjunction with a news service to create a daily news collectioncustomized to the interests of the user. An entirely daily news site maybe automatically searched for occurrences of keywords associated withconcept nodes of the overlay. News stories that contain concepts similarto that of the overlay analog be collected and presented to the user.

Referring to FIG. 6, a block diagram illustrating a system including anoverlay according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. Asystem according to the teachings of the present invention generallycomprises a digital information space 150 and an overlay 152. In oneexample, the digital information space 150 may be the Internet. Theoverlay 152 is generally stored on one or more personal computers orservers separate from digital information space 150. Digital informationspace 150 includes a number of digital information objects 154 a-n asindicated by the labels DI01, DI02, DI04 and DI05. In one example,digital information objects 154 correspond to WEB pages on the Internet.Each digital information object 154 may contain links to other digitalinformation objects 154 based on code within the digital informationobjects, as indicated by reference numerals 156, 158 and 160.

Digital information objects 154 may be linked to one another byoverlay-generated hyperlinks, one of which is indicated by referencenumeral 162. Overlay 152 generally comprises one or more concept nodes164 a-n and one or more information nodes 166 a-n. One or more keywordphrases may be associated with each concept node 164, embodying theconcept of the concept node. Each information node 166 represents adigital information object in digital information space 150 and containsa link to the respective digital information object, as shown byreference numerals 168 and 170. This link may be the address of digitalinformation object 154 within digital information space 150. Theinformation nodes 166 are linked to relevant concept nodes, asillustrated by reference numerals 172 and 174, that share a commonconcept. Thus, link 162 is established between digital informationobjects 154. However, link 162 does not exist in digital informationspace 150, but rather is a construct established solely within overlay152.

Each information node 166 may also contain information about associateddigital information object 154, such as page link information,annotation window information, concepts related to the information node,and the like. Additionally, a user may manually establish a link 176between similar concepts in the concept nodes 164 a and 164 n and a link178 between the different information nodes 164 a and 164 n.

Referring to FIG. 7, an exemplary client/server implementation of thepresent invention is shown. The client/server implementation maycomprise a number of clients 200 a-n, a server 202, an information bus204 such as a network, and a digital information space 206. The overlaymay be hosted on the server 202. The server 202 receives additions,revisions and/or deletions to the overlay and published authorizedoverlay modifications to the clients 200 a-n through the information bus204. Each of the clients 200 a-n receives additions, revisions, and/ordeletions to the overlay structure and publishes overlay modificationsto the server over the information bus 204. In one example, theinformation bus 204 may be a local area network (LAN) connected to theInternet 206 through a security filter or firewall, not shown.

In an embodiment of the present invention, each user has access to oneor more search engine 208 through one or more of server 202, Internet206, information bus 204, and the like. Each user has the ability topass an overlay to an agent capable of breaking the overlay intomultiple searches against search engine 208. The search resultsgenerates a list of potential new overlay nodes for the user to approveor discard. Nodes that already exist in the overlay, or which have been“forgotten,” need not be included.

In another embodiment of the present invention, each user has access toone or more news services 210 through one or more of server 202,Internet 206, information bus 204, and the like. Each user has theability to pass an overlay to an agent that uses the overlay inconjunction with news service 210 to create a “newspaper” customized toconcepts expressed in the overlay. The newspaper could be made availableto the user on a regular basis.

Referring to FIG. 8, an exemplary peer-to-peer implementation of thepresent invention is shown. The peer-to-peer implementation generallycomprises a number of clients 220 a-n communicating over an informationbus 222. The information bus 222 may be connected to a digitalinformation space 224. Each of the clients 220 a-n may host a copy of anoverlay for its own use and may publish overlay modifications to theinformation bus 222. Each of the clients 220 a-n may receive subscribedadditions, revisions and/or deletions to the overlay structure and mayautomatically incorporate the changes to its overlay if the changesarrive from a trusted peer (e.g., client 220 a-n). Otherwise, changesmay be queued for review by the user before changes are made. Thepeer-to-peer implementation of FIG. 8 may be a distributedimplementation of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, an exemplary WEB browser user interface throughwhich a user is presented with overlay information when browsing thedigital information space is shown. A browser window 240 may load adigital information object, such as a WEB page, accessed by the user.The digital information object is be scanned for occurrences of keywords242 within concept nodes 164 a-n. In the example of FIG. 9, “knowledgemanagement” is one such keyword phrase. From the keyword phrase“knowledge management,” the user is provided with overlay basedhyperlinks in the form of cascading menus 244. Cascading menus 244present the user with related information nodes 166 a-n based on similarconcepts within the overlay.

The present invention has been described in conjunction with specificembodiments. However, it is evident that many alternatives,modifications, and variations are possible. For instance, in addition tousing overlays for the organization and navigation of WWW documents, theoverlays can be used for organizing email. In operation, when a userencounters an email that is to be saved, rather than moving the email toa folder, the user would open an overlay dialog and select the conceptsby which the email should be indexed. The user would be able to browsethrough the concepts and view which messages are relevant to whichconcepts. In addition, new email could be scanned for keywords and thenlinked to other email having the concepts associated with the matchedkeywords.

As another example, the digital information space may be a desktopenvironment. In this case, the addressable objects include eachaddressable location accessible from the desktop environment. Theseobjects include WWW sites, emails, local documents, or shared networkfiles.

Other applications for the present invention include database entries asmay be specified by an SQL query, a slide in a presentation programfile, or a sheet in a spreadsheet. A digital information object isanything on a computer that can be uniquely addressed.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described,it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe allpossible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in thespecification are words of description rather than limitation, and it isunderstood that various changes may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

1. A method for linking together digital information objects of apublically-available digital information space comprising: storing, on acomputer system, at least one locally-stored software artifact overlay,wherein each overlay comprises: at least one digitally-readable conceptnode within each overlay, each digitally readable concept nodeexpressing one concept, each concept defined by at least one keyword;and at least one digitally-readable information node within eachoverlay, each digitally-readable information node representing one ofthe digital information objects; automatically establishing, at thecomputer system, a link between an accessed digital information objectin the digital information space and each of the at least onedigitally-readable concept node, when the accessed digital informationobject and the overlay include at least one common concept, the linkbeing omitted absent at least one common concept displaying, in at leasta portion of a web browser on the computer system, an overlay navigatorthat displays the at least one locally-stored software artifact overlay.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating, at thecomputer system, a list of new potential information nodes based on anyportion of the at least one overlay passed to the agent.
 3. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: creating, at the computer system, acustomized news collection based on any portion of the at least oneoverlay passed to the agent.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thelocally-stored software artifact overlay does not affect informationlocated in the publically-available digital information space.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the locally-stored software 1 artifactoverlay comprises: an index of URLs in the overlay; an index of overlayconcepts described by keywords associated with the concept; data on eachof the URLS in the overlay; and annotations.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein establishing a link between an accessed digital informationobject in the digital information space and each of the at least onedigitally-readable concept node comprises: checking to see if a selectedURL is in the at least one locally-stored software artifact overlay;automatically populating the overlay with links to additional digitalinformation objects and annotations associated with the URL; andautomatically populating the digital information object with links toadditional websites and additional annotation windows when the digitalinformation object comprises at least one keyword found in the conceptnode that did not previously have any links or annotations associatedwith the keyword.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein automaticallypopulating the digital information object with links to additionalwebsites and additional annotation windows comprises: initiating anautomatic session; automatically scanning the digital information objectfor the at least one keyword; and automatically associating any found atleast one keyword with at least one of one or more information nodes andone or more concept nodes listed in the overlay.
 8. The method of claim1, further comprising: displaying the digital information object in aweb browser on the computer system, with at least one highlightedkeyword; and displaying a pop-up menu comprising additionalpublicly-available digital information objects when a user selects theat least one highlighted keyword.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: upon accessing a digital information object, inserting atitle and URL of the accessed digital information object in a form ofthe overlay navigator window.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: adding or removing at least one pre-defined concept to andfrom the digitally-readable concept node.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein Boolean logic modifiers are used to associate the at least onekeyword with each concept.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein theconcept node further comprises at least one user-defined concept, themethod further comprising, displaying, in the overlay navigator, astrength of association of concepts in the concept node.
 13. The methodof claim 1 wherein, the at least one locally-stored software artifactoverlay comprises: a device adapted to send a user to a documentcomprising a first link in the at least one locally-stored softwareartifact overlay; and a device adapted to allow a user to browse throughadditional links in the at least one locally-stored software artifactoverlay.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, atthe computer system, one or more documents located on a server, the oneor more documents having one or more predefined keywords and built-inlinks adapted to be received by the locally-stored software artifactoverlay.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting theat least one locally-stored software artifact overlay to an Internetsearch engine that is configured to use the concept nodes and the atleast one keyword to assemble optimized searches.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein: the Internet search engine comprises a news servicesearch engine; and the optimized searches comprise searching a dailynews site.
 17. The method of claim 1 wherein, the at least onelocally-stored software artifact overlay comprises is privatelymaintained on the computer system.
 18. The method of claim 1 wherein,the at least one locally-stored software artifact is accessible onlythrough the web browser.
 19. A computer system, comprising: a processor;a database in communication with the processor; and code executable bythe processor to cause the computer system to perform a methodcomprising: storing, in the database, at least one locally-storedsoftware artifact overlay, wherein each overlay comprises: at least onedigitally-readable concept node within each overlay, eachdigitally-readable concept node expressing one concept, each conceptdefined by at least one keyword; and at least one digitally-readableinformation node within each overlay, each digitally-readableinformation node representing one of the digital information objects;automatically establishing a link between an accessed digitalinformation object in the digital information space and each of the atleast one digitally-readable concept node, when the accessed digitalinformation object and the overlay include at least one common concept,the link being omitted absent at least one common concept; anddisplaying, in at least a portion of a web browser on the computersystem, an overlay navigator that displays the at least onelocally-stored software artifact overlay.